General Idea Aids, 1987
Acrylic on canvas
62,5 x 62,5 cm
In response to an invitation to create works for the Art against AIDS benefit in 1987, General Idea appropriated the colors and stacked letter design of Robert Indiana's widely quoted LOVE (1965), re-configuring it to read "AIDS." Producing posters, wallpaper, stamps, public sculpture, and billboards, General Idea spread its AIDS logo throughout art institutions and transportation systems in the United States and Europe, as well as in galleries. AIDS (1987) was the first work in the now iconis series of paintings and wallpapers.